Linda Jones | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/profile/lindajones
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If you only do one thing this week … get the most from a work experience personhttp://www.theguardian.com/money/2009/sep/07/work-experience-placements
Work experience placements can bring rewards to both sides, so get the most of them while they are in the office, says Linda Jones<p></p><p>Tin of tartan paint anyone? Left-handed screwdriver? We've all heard tales of work experience people being sent on impossible errands. But even if you and your colleagues aren't that mean, it is possible you have been guilty of giving short shrift to a workie, seeing him or her as more of a hindrance than a help.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/2009/sep/07/work-experience-placements">Continue reading...</a>Work & careersMoneyJob huntingMon, 07 Sep 2009 09:10:38 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/money/2009/sep/07/work-experience-placementsFrank BaronThe NHS offers work experience to inspire people to work within the organisation. Photograph: Frank BaronFrank BaronAdam Bartlett, a student on work experience at Southampton General hospital, talks to a nurse. Photograph: Frank BaronLinda Jones2009-09-07T09:10:38ZThe double trouble with tales about twinshttp://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/oct/30/fiction-twins-jacqueline-wilson
Why must characterisations of twins always be so lazy and prejudiced?<p>I don't know why I picked up Greg Williams' Another Man's Life - &quot;funny, fast and honest, Nick Hornby with knobs on&quot; – but pretty soon I wished I hadn't. </p><p>The hackneyed plot hinges on the sort of twin swap that makes my blood boil. Despite the fact that one is a married father with two young boys and the other, a high-flying, womanising, marketing executive, no-one can tell when identical twins Tom and Sean exchange places – with &quot;hilarious&quot; consequences. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/oct/30/fiction-twins-jacqueline-wilson">Continue reading...</a>FictionBooksCultureThu, 30 Oct 2008 12:30:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/oct/30/fiction-twins-jacqueline-wilsonKobalSpot the difference ... Nicolas Cage does nothing to dispel twin stereotypes as Donald and Charlie Kaufman in Adaptation. Photograph: KobalLinda Jones2008-10-30T12:30:30ZLinda Jones: Websites for book characters is a marketing ploy too farhttp://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/oct/22/fictional-characters-marketing-facebook-twitter
<p>Heard the latest about Steffi McBride? She's been asked to sign up for the next series of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, apparently. Oh and she has had a rose named after her.</p><p>Perhaps you don't have a clue about this latest D-lister to hit the party circuit who says she's stayed up all hours with Paris and Kylie. And possibly you don't care a jot.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/oct/22/fictional-characters-marketing-facebook-twitter">Continue reading...</a>BooksFictionPublishingWed, 22 Oct 2008 10:46:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/oct/22/fictional-characters-marketing-facebook-twitterLinda Nylind/GuardianWhy stop reading at the last page? ... FacebookLinda Nylind/GuardianA Facebook user's profileLinda Jones2008-10-22T10:46:32ZCarving virtual gravestoneshttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/aug/23/digitalmedia4
More and more people are leaving tributes to loved ones on memorial websites, but are they opening themselves up to abuse?<p>More than 2,000 people have viewed the tribute to the sisters since it was put up in May. Strangers have also left their contact details and passed on their condolences. Branton has also set up a tribute at gonetoosoon.co.uk and a video at One True Media. Unlike a gravestone, these tributes will not weather over the years.</p><p><b>Grieving process</b></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/aug/23/digitalmedia4">Continue reading...</a>Digital mediaMediaThu, 23 Aug 2007 10:53:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/aug/23/digitalmedia4Linda Jones2007-08-23T10:53:53ZCarving virtual gravestoneshttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/aug/23/guardianweeklytechnologysection.myspace
More and more people are leaving tributes to loved ones on memorial websites, but are they opening themselves up to abuse?<p>&quot;Diane &amp; Deb, I miss you so much, I love you and will never get over losing you both xx,&quot; reads the dedication. &quot;Diane and her twin Debra were born in Sunderland, the day before I turned two years old,&quot; writes Pauline Branton on <a href="http://virtual-memorials.com/">virtual-memorials.com</a> amid dozens of family snaps.</p><p>More than 2,000 people have viewed the tribute to the sisters since it was put up in May. Strangers have also left their contact details and passed on their condolences. Branton has also set up a tribute at <a href="http://gonetoosoon.co.uk">gonetoosoon.co.uk</a> and a video at One True Media. Unlike a gravestone, these tributes will not weather over the years.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/aug/23/guardianweeklytechnologysection.myspace">Continue reading...</a>TechnologyMyspaceWed, 22 Aug 2007 23:28:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/aug/23/guardianweeklytechnologysection.myspaceLinda Jones2007-08-22T23:28:01ZLinda Jones: Do you think you could get your presentation plugged in and working at the start?http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jul/26/comment.comment
If you're going to give a presentation, do you think you could get it plugged in and working at the start?<p>&quot;Sack the juggler,&quot; comes the cry from some wag when a plate crashes to the floor. I hate it when they say that.</p><p>There's another less dramatic but equally grating sentiment that crops up with gutwrenching regularity: &quot;It was working five minutes ago, honest ...&quot; Without fail, it's followed by a weak smile.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jul/26/comment.comment">Continue reading...</a>TechnologyWed, 25 Jul 2007 23:04:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jul/26/comment.commentLinda Jones2007-07-25T23:04:32ZIs this year's Big Brother offensive to twins?http://www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2007/jul/05/aerbigbrotherssamandamand
My twin daughters are feeling the 'Samanda effect' - but at least they're not facing questions over being a nasty piece of work like Charley.<p><img height="300" width="460" src="http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2007/07/05/twins460.jpg" alt="samandamandamarchant.jpg" /><br /><span class="caption">'Overly giddy' ... Sam and Amanda Marchant</span></p><p>Are you psychic? What about your children? Can they guess what each other are thinking? Do you give a monkey's? I know I don't. But thanks to <a href="http://www.anorak.co.uk/reality-tv/big-brother/173858.html">Sam and Amanda Marchant</a>, two young women currently faffing about in identical pastel-coloured slacks on this year's Big Brother, I've been asked this question three times recently.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2007/jul/05/aerbigbrotherssamandamand">Continue reading...</a>CultureThu, 05 Jul 2007 15:05:22 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2007/jul/05/aerbigbrotherssamandamandLinda Jones2007-07-05T15:05:22ZLinda Jones: Why do computers have to make doing a straightforward thing like a mail merge so very hard?http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jun/14/comment.comment1
Why do computers have to make doing a straightforward thing like a mail merge so very hard?<p>Nobody said working for myself was going to be easy. But being nobbled by Microsoft's mail merge function can't be high up on many lists of small business pitfalls. It really should be.</p><p>Who'd have thought that addressing a few dozen envelopes could prove so infuriating? Am I deluding myself thinking it could ever be any easier? Perhaps it's one of those mind-numbing administrative tasks that are sent to test us, with or without a &quot;helping&quot; hand from the latest technical know-how. It may be called a wizard, but its magic is not working on me. Do I like it? Not a lot.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jun/14/comment.comment1">Continue reading...</a>TechnologyWed, 13 Jun 2007 23:11:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jun/14/comment.comment1Linda Jones2007-06-13T23:11:30ZMember of the Twittering classeshttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/may/17/guardianweeklytechnologysection.socialnetworking
MP Alan Johnson is using the microblogging tool in his campaign to be Labour deputy leader. But is it 'potentially the biggest waste of time in the world'? Linda Jones reports<p>You might not consider Labour deputy leadership contender Alan Johnson the most likely person to embrace the latest social networking trend. But according to his campaign team, Johnson is not only the first UK politician to be sending out Twitter updates, he was nearly the first in the world.</p><p>&quot;I had the idea for Alan to use Twitter back at the start of January, long before John Edwards started to use it for his [US] presidential bid,&quot; says Stuart Bruce, Johnson's head of PR. &quot;Unfortunately, he started before we were ready.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/may/17/guardianweeklytechnologysection.socialnetworking">Continue reading...</a>TechnologySocial networkingAlan JohnsonThu, 17 May 2007 11:12:56 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/may/17/guardianweeklytechnologysection.socialnetworkingLinda Jones2007-05-17T11:12:56ZMember of the Twittering classeshttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/may/17/newmedia
MP Alan Johnson is using the microblogging tool in his campaign to be Labour deputy leader. But is it 'potentially the biggest waste of time in the world'? Linda Jones reports<p>You might not consider Labour deputy leadership contender Alan Johnson the most likely person to embrace the latest social networking trend. But according to his campaign team, Johnson is not only the first UK politician to be sending out Twitter updates, he was nearly the first in the world.</p><p>&quot;I had the idea for Alan to use Twitter back at the start of January, long before John Edwards started to use it for his [US] presidential bid,&quot; says Stuart Bruce, Johnson's head of PR. &quot;Unfortunately, he started before we were ready.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/may/17/newmedia">Continue reading...</a>Digital mediaMediaAlan JohnsonThu, 17 May 2007 09:58:56 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/may/17/newmediaLinda Jones2007-05-17T09:58:56ZTechnobile: Apr 26http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/apr/26/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection
If you're after a business built on misheard gibberish and yawning delays, then conference calls are for you<p>Conference calls. The name alone is enough to warn you. A conference you attend in a telephone. The only way it could be worse would be if it was inside a telephone booth. The calls are dull, excruciating and terrifying.</p><p>Remind me again - why do I want to speak to all these people at once? Sat on my stairs at home with an ill child upstairs (but pretending to be in the office), I feel the sweat prickling.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/apr/26/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection">Continue reading...</a>TechnologyThu, 26 Apr 2007 22:51:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/apr/26/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysectionMatthias Kulka/ Matthias Kulka/zefa/CorbisPhotograph: Matthias Kulka/Zefa/CorbisMatthias Kulka/ Matthias Kulka/zefa/CorbisConference Call
Telephone handsets hanging down by their cords Photograph: Matthias Kulka/ Matthias Kulka/zefa/CorbisLinda Jones2007-04-26T22:51:00ZLinda Jones: Using all-in-one devices can be a nightmarehttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/mar/29/comment.comment
It's all very well these bods dreaming up all-in-one devices, but using them can be a nightmare<p>How often do you want to just press a button and see something happen? Every day, I'd guess. Don't we all? So why then do the clever people at Xerox not grasp this basic concept?</p><p>I would like to know who came up with the notion of combining a photocopier with a printer, giving a sucker like me the option of 31 choices for what I need to do, then leaving me to get on with it? Whoever it was, I'd like to sit them down for just an hour or so as I twiddle with these buttons, to no avail, and let them watch and listen as the air turns blue. It's not pretty.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/mar/29/comment.comment">Continue reading...</a>TechnologyWed, 28 Mar 2007 23:05:13 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/mar/29/comment.commentLinda Jones2007-03-28T23:05:13ZLinda Jones: Technobilehttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/feb/08/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection1
It's not just the price of the toll that stops people from using the fancy new private motorway<p>So you've decided to part with your hard-earned cash to avoid the M6 rush hour hell. You're bombing along, set to reach your destination with time to spare - thanks to Britain's first, and almost traffic-free, privately funded motorway.</p><p>And then you see it. The ambitiously named main toll &quot;plaza&quot; looms on the horizon. This, you will learn, is why the private motorway is traffic-free. Not because people don't want to pay money, but because they don't want to go through the process of paying money.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/feb/08/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection1">Continue reading...</a>TechnologyThu, 08 Feb 2007 23:47:38 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/feb/08/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection1Linda Jones2007-02-08T23:47:38ZLinda Jones: Technobilehttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/oct/19/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection
A supermaket checkout that isn't childproof and can't scan bananas? Sorry, but it's back to the "10 items only" queue for me<p>Oh great - a self-service till at my local supermarket. What a brilliant idea for those of us blessed with the unenviable knack of always picking the slowest queue to stand in. Except here we, the customers, create the queue by doing the scanning ourselves. This isn't scan-as-you-shop. It's scan-after-you-shop, then hand over the money.</p><p>You're thinking that scanning your own barcodes must be simple, right? Wrong. The lack of thought that has been invested in these things is mind-boggling.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/oct/19/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection">Continue reading...</a>TechnologyThu, 19 Oct 2006 00:50:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/oct/19/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysectionLinda Jones2006-10-19T00:50:03ZLinda Jones: Technobilehttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/aug/10/comment.comment
Why are we subjected to folksy family fun when we just need a quick word?<p>What is it with people? Ring them up and you get some half-soaked attempt at humour or their delightful toddler humming the Bob the Builder theme down the receiver.</p><p>I mean, when they're not in, of course. We're led to believe that the only time answerphones are worthy of complaint are when some hard-hearted boss sacks his entire workforce by leaving a message - and that's only because he doesn't know how to text.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/aug/10/comment.comment">Continue reading...</a>TechnologyWed, 09 Aug 2006 23:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/aug/10/comment.commentLinda Jones2006-08-09T23:01:00ZLinda Jones: Technobilehttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/aug/03/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection
Learn some basic grammar and spelling rules and maybe then will online networking stand a chance<p>Call me old-fashioned, but I don't like to do business with people I've never met. So it was a pretty unexpected move for me to join an &quot;online networking group&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Matched contacts&quot; screams my weekly email and I'm overwhelmed with interest. Actually, no, I'm not. What's the point? I just don't get it.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/aug/03/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection">Continue reading...</a>TechnologyWed, 02 Aug 2006 23:02:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/aug/03/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysectionLinda Jones2006-08-02T23:02:00ZLinda Jones: Technobilehttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/jul/20/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection
Blaming lateness on your satnav is right up there with 'the dog ate my homework' in lame excuses<p>Look, when I'm lost, I know I'm lost. Now could the machine please leave it out with the monotone gloating in a dull Received Pronunciation accent. I've already worked it out myself.</p><p>And while everyone's telling me I really should de-clutter my life, this tangle of cables in my car - from satnav to laptop and from there to otherwise long-forgotten cigarette lighter socket - really can't be doing me any good.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/jul/20/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysection">Continue reading...</a>TechnologyThu, 20 Jul 2006 00:17:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/jul/20/comment.guardianweeklytechnologysectionLinda Jones2006-07-20T00:17:09Z